Cyber fraudsters have been sending messages to government officers impersonating higher officials like the Collector and SP and asking for money. In one such latest incident, a Tahsildar got a WhatsApp message purportedly from Guntur district Collector M. Venugopal Reddy. However, the fraud was detected immediately as both were in a review meeting at that time.
Similar messages were also sent in the name of Guntur Superintendent of Police Arif Hafeez.
Following the incident on Monday, the Collector reported it to the Cyber Cell.
‘’The cyber fraudsters used my photo as their WhatsApp Display Picture to make the request look genuine,’‘ Mr. Venugopal Reddy told The Hindu over the phone on Saturday. The Cyber Crime police immediately traced the sender of the message to Rajasthan. Further investigation is going on, he said.
Stating that the fraudsters have been asking officials to transfer money electronically, Mr. Venugopal Reddy cautioned officials and public against falling into such traps.
He said that he had shared the information with all the officers and employees in the district and told them to be cautious in dealing with such type of crimes.
Meanwhile, in Vijayawada also, miscreants created a Whatsapp group with the profile photos of NTR District Collector S. Dilli Rao, and forwarded messages to Tahsildars (Mandal Revenue Officers) requesting them to send money.
The issue was brought to the notice of the Collector and he sent out alerts to the Revenue Department officers on the fake Whatsapp group.
Mr. Dilli Rao also lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime police of NTR Commissionerate, who swung into action.
“The unknown person has created a fake Whatsapp group with my profile photo and sent a Googlepay number to the Tahsildars in my jurisdiction,” the Collector said in his complaint.
